White In A Crowd of Red
by IKalsada
Summary: Her hair as dark as night and skin as white as snow. They named her Miyuki, because they believed it was the Japanese translation for Snow White. But does her fate strongly inclined to her name?
1. Chapter 1

In a land not too far away from China, where music grows as rapidly as weeds and artists' fame spread as rapidly as wildfire, lived a well-known businessman in the field of food producing, which kind of explains the comparison on plants. He can be considered as the luckiest man on earth because aside from the riches he has, he also has a beautiful family with a wife and one daughter. They named their daughter Miyuki, for they believed it's the Japanese translation for Snow White—sort of. She has skin as white as snow and hair as dark as night. Miyuki was fairly the Japanese counterpart of Snow White.

His company produces almost all the food in Japan—rice, beans, corn, and everything you can think of, he has it. Every businessman envied him; every politician craved for his riches. But he's still humble amidst of his accomplishments.

But his almost perfect life came to an end when his wife fell very ill. Her breast cancer had spread like wildfire inside her body, damaging her body organs one by one, and the doctor said it cannot be cured anymore, that her life now has its deadline. She accepted her faith, and so did the businessman, unwillingly. She died months after her last chemotherapy. Miyuki had been just three. Her mother's loss grieved her very much that she lost a little ray of hope but then, Miyuki knew better to be happy for her own mother—just a little.

Being the next heir to their family business, Miyuki was trained early by her father and was introduced to the field of business at the age of five. Before she could even master the field of writing and reading, she had already memorized the multiplication table and basic mathematical operations. It was the first aspect her father knew would help her when she will take on the throne.

But her father knew there were things he can't teach her that would help Miyuki in her life. He searched for a teacher that could help nurture Miyuki into a fine, smart lady but instead, he found love. The businessman fell for the second time, to a celebrity-athlete this time and she was so beautiful his broken heart from his late wife vanished. They married three months after they met, and it was a mystery to the company how the girl fell in love with him that fast but they thought that's how the modern day now go.

The celebrity was nice to Miyuki at first, teaching her how to walk properly and everything that the businessman cannot teach to her. Miyuki thought that her stepmother was as fine as her mother but it was all wrong. When the businessman died because of a tragedy, the company was forcibly owned by his new wife due to Miyuki's age. Everything turned upside down in the company under the new owner's hands and Miyuki was forbidden to go out of their house with the reason that the tragedy might happen again. And it was devastating to think that it all happened in just one year, that the supposed to be heir was just five.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was very bright but none of its rays ever touched her soft skin, though amidst of that, Miyuki admired how it does its job without a comment or consequence. With a contented sigh, Miyuki turned from the window and went to her stool in front of an easel. Ever since she was locked up inside the house, she suddenly had this passion to paint everything she saw when she was a still free as a kid that she cannot see now. It started with landscapes until it reached the people she knew—the company employees, her friends, their neighbors and her parents. They only exist now her life through the paintings but then, she knew it was better than nothing.

Miyuki was about to retouch the landscape she finished last night when there was a knock on her door. She stood up from her stool and reached for it, twisting the doorknob. Satsuki, their late housekeeper's daughter, stood with a tray in her hands. Miyuki smiled, brightly and let her inside, opening the door widely.

"Satsuki-chan!" Miyuki shouted, her voice showing too much excitement that it turned out much louder than she intended to do before she could even shut the door, earning a quick glare from Satsuki, and holding up a peace sign with her fingers, Miyuki closed the door behind her.

"Your ugly stepmother told me to serve you a breakfast in bed." Satsuki said, her voice sounds like she's irritated, rolling her eyes and gingerly placed the tray on top of the small round table, just beside Miyuki's bed. "She's busy planning for the party for your company's investors."

"Did she mutter anything that I can come?" Miyuki asked, sitting on the chair in front of the round table, wide-eyed and expectant, and gestured for Satsuki occupy the chair countering her. The latter willingly obliged, and grumpily sat, her lips twitching.

"Ever since you were five, you weren't allowed to come to her parties. Do you think she would let you this time that you're nineteen?" Satsuki's eyebrows were raked as equally as how her voice sounded angry and tight.

Miyuki shook her head and sighed. The tragedy that happened fourtee years ago grieved her stepmother so much that she ordered for her to not to go outside. Ever since then, Miyuki was kept inside the house and was forbidden to things involving meeting people or to the outside. She thought that her stepmother did this for her safety, but then there's this second thought that clings inside her mind that her stepmother did this because of something she couldn't figure. Maybe it involves the company, who knows?

"I've already told her that I won't get involved in a relationship without her permission." Miyuki said, grabbing herself a piece of the bread and spreading jam all over the top; she ate it delicately.

"I don't think she has a problem with you falling in love." Satsuki commented, pouring milk into the glass and handed it over to Miyuki. The latter gladly accepted it and took a sip before proceeding to her bread, eating abruptly. It tasted bland and nothing compared to her breakfast yesterday but she heard that her stepmother was on a diet starting so that she'll be in good shape at the investors' party and so, the whole house is also on a diet.

"Maybe she's afraid that I might get kidnapped or be hurt if the media asks of my father's disappearance." Miyuki suggested, eating the last part of the bread and drank the whole glass of milk.

"You really love your stepmother, do you?" Satsuki asked, raising one eyebrow. Miyuki could only nod, and answer, "She's the only family I have left."

"You're really something." Satsuki commented, and sighed. Her eyes suddenly flashed into stormy, unreadable ones. "But the true reason why I'm here aside from giving you breakfast, I want to give you a gift."

"Is it my birthday?" Miyuki pointed at herself, completely bewildered and turned to the calendar to see the date. It was just the 14th of October.

"No," Satsuki sternly replied; Miyuki quickly looked back at her. Satsuki produced a small box from her housekeeper uniform and handed it over to her. It was wrapped in a bond paper and a thin ribbon solely served as its design.

"I took all the words from my brain just to convince your stepmother that isn't some kind of bomb or key to whatever door she strictly prohibits." Satsuki said as Miyuki opens it. "But I want you to go the hell out of here and visit the company. Just take a cab, give the small paper attached to key to the driver and he will drive you to the company's building. I just hope I'm not too late to give you that. Your father gave that to my mother to be given to you but my old woman passed away so she instructed that I should be the one to give that to you when you reach puberty."

Miyuki glared at the Satsuki, the key with a paper attached to it in her fingers. "I've reached puberty years ago."

"You didn't look like you reached puberty, your face looked like you're just fourteen, and you were goddamn hell so nice to your stepmother." Satsuki contradicted. "At least it diminished by five percent or ten these days because of the garden incident."

"Where do I hail a cab?" Miyuki asked, changing the subject and standing up to change her clothes.

"Walk until you reach the entrance of the subdivision, and then, you turn right—that will lead you to the district. You walk further until you reach the bus stop, there you can wait for a cab legally." Satsuki instructed as Miyuki changes her sweatpants and hoodie to a pair of dark-colored jeans and T-shirt. She puts on a hoodie to hide her face in case someone intends to stare at her—definitely; she wouldn't like it if her stepmother knew of this thing.

"Is mother here?" She asked Satsuki as soon as she was finished, her hood put on and the key inside her pocket.

"Well," Satsuki slyly smiled. "I planned this too well."


	3. Chapter 3

True enough to what Satsuki said, the only guard inside the house was the one by the gate, who can you bribe with money and he will surely shut his trap off. Her stepmother was away to buy her clothes for the party tomorrow and she brought all of the guards—except one—with her shopping.

Miyuki continued to walk towards the gate, hiding her face beneath the hood. Several of the housekeepers bows at her presence while some, who don't even had the time to peer, just passed her by. Of course, she was used to the bowing but then, it's better to be a stranger or a commoner just like them—completely ignored. It's much more convenient, to be ignored than to be noticed all the time. At least when you're ignored, you can act freely.

"I'm going out." Miyuki sternly said to the guard by the gate and quick as sound, he strictly placed his arm across the gate.

He raised a brow at her appearance as if mocking her. "Are you allowed to go out?"

"No." She answered, reaching for her pocket and before he could withdraw his walkie talkie from his belt, she hastily placed the money inside his uniform, in his right breast pocket. The guard was bewildered for a moment, looking in his breast pocket then, back to her and then, back to his breast pocket. Miyuki waited patiently, trying to mask out the nervousness showing up on her face. _Maybe this is a bad idea._ She thought, inwardly biting her lip.

"Fine." The guard said, turning his attention back at her and Miyuki relaxed, her tensed muscles softening. "Just don't go too far or the chief will put it up for me with your absence." He continued, taking the money from his shirt and removed his arm from blocking her way. "Four or nothing."

"I got it." Miyuki smiled, wistfully and went out of the gate for the first time in twenty years. She felt like a rebel, but most importantly, she felt free and flying. She felt like a free citizen, doing what she wants in her own will. The wind brushing against her bare face; the sun now smiling upon her. It was a fun sight to see herself getting out of the house. No matter how she gets worried for her stepmother's reaction to her rebellious actions, it quickly dissipates when she passed by the people. And it was so fun she would randomly greet them, which also caused for them to sometimes freak out or raise a brow, but some would return the gesture with a smile.

She did what Satsuki told her. As soon as she reached the entrance of the subdivision, she turned right that Satsuki told her that would lead to the district. Miyuki felt safer with the people around than she was with her stepmother, which she has no idea why and put her hood down. No one recognized her, much to her relief.

She started to gawk and be bewildered to the improvement Seoul had. She remembered, when she was five back then, the concrete buildings were limited and the stores were just built together with the houses—the ground floor as the commercial part and the second floor as the main house. There were digital signage everywhere, and the people are much too many now. Like a nuclear explosion of genes happened and suddenly, there were too many people.

"What the heck?!"

Miyuki turned curiously to the crowd surrounding something—or maybe someone because there were a lot of shouting of the word "Fight!", and every now and then, the crowd would move away from who they're surrounded. She decided to see what's happening, in her own free will, her curiosity from the twenty years of trapped inside the house kicking in. There were many things in the world she wants to try in at this hour but then, if this what God lays upon her, then so shall it be.

The crowd suddenly dissipated, all of them running at once and she saw a very muscular and large man, fuming in anger. He is very angry that his face was very red, red as a tomato as everyone would put but a nice, innocent tomato shouldn't be used as a metaphor for him, and there were veins evidently popped out of his arms and neck. His knuckles were tightly shut into two fists and behind him were two slightly beaten up men—one with a muscular, regular body and one with a muscular body, yet shorter than the former. The taller one had a cut above his eyebrow, and his lips were bleeding, while the other one had a bruise on his right cheek.

Miyuki felt scared for the two beaten up men, remembering what her father said why he taught her self-defense after she learned the basics in business management. She didn't know that she would use her father's techniques twenty years after he taught them, but then that's better than not using them at all—that would be a waste.

She reached took a deep breath, and walked towards the large muscular man as he was about to lay a punch on the taller man's face. Gathering all of her courage, she shouted, "Hey punk! Why don't you pick someone your own size?"

The large man's hand stopped in midway, and the taller man's eyes fluttered open, his friend bewildered upon seeing her. Large man turned to her, dropping taller man on the floor and sneered, "Who do you think is like my size? You?"

She chuckled, shaking her head. "Oh no, not me." Then, her voice suddenly changed into something as if she's asking for a fight. "I'm beyond your size."

"You're asking for a fight, huh?" The large man walked slowly towards her, cracking his knuckles and stopped, their distance now diminished to a meter. "This is fun."

The two beaten up men started to smell fear for Miyuki, closing in to the tension in front of them but keeping a distance. They were just on their way to their job, and suddenly, a beefy large man came up to them and held a holdup. They refused to give their belongings they might as well give their souls if they did. Their bags contained everything they had taken care and worked hard for, of course they would fight for it. But then they were about to give the living hell to the thief, when a soft, innocent and naïve-looking girl decided to stand up for them. She looked very innocent, her baby face standing up proudly at the center of her glossy, black veil and her body looked fragile, as if only one solid punch will take to knock her out of her senses.

Miyuki clenched her fist, gritting her teeth and intentionally laid a punch on the large man's face. He dodged it with easy grace, stopping her hand with his own and when he thought he already won, she kicked his loin using her knee. As he crumpled on the floor, clutching his stomach, she kicked his face and slammed the heel of her right shoe against his cheek. Large man groaned in pain with the consecutive blows he received from Miyuki and he covered his face with his beefy hands.

"Now, you get out of my sight and pick someone your own size." Miyuki sternly commanded, and immediately the large man shuffled from the floor. He bowed apologetically to Miyuki, and then to the two men he beat up and ran out of their sight, stumbling as he made his way.

Miyuki looked down at the floor, her eyes wide in astonishment and whispered under her breath. "People these days are weirder than my stepmother."

"Ah, old woman!"

Miyuki quickly turned to the voice, greatly offended by the name he called her. Anger was written in her face, and she took a step closer to the men she recently saved. She didn't think people these days are ungrateful to the people who save their lives. If she had known, she wouldn't have gone out of the house.

He laughed, the one who called her old woman. "I was just joking," He said, and pointed at her feet—or maybe, shoes. "Because you are wearing shoes what old women wear."

Miyuki looked down at her feet, and inwardly groaned, her face turning sour. She just had forgotten to change her shoes because of too much excitement. The shoes were her mother's and when she died, Miyuki decided to use it as her own slippers for home use only. And since she stayed mostly inside, it was the most frequent shoes she wore.

"Anyway, we don't really need your help. We were about to kick that guy's ass off but you suddenly popped out of nowhere—"

"Come on, Kise." The man who called her old woman was cut off by his friend. "You should just thank her because she saved us. You're so egoistic."

"Fine, Kasamatsu senpai." Kise rolled his eyes and turned to Miyuki. "I'm sorry for my attitude blah blah."

Kasamatsu groaned, smirking to himself and grabbed the bag that the large man tried to steal a while ago. It was an expensive-kind of backpack that looked vintage yet stylish. Miyuki stared at him as he rubs the bag and wore it on his back.

"Ah!" Kise suddenly said, getting Miyuki's attention abruptly. He grinned widely, placing his hands inside his hoodie's kangaroo pockets and said, "It would be nice of you not to tell the reporters we didn't have theft."

"What if I told them?" Miyuki asked in English, taking Kise aback. He remained his mouth ajar, and maybe to ease up his embarrassment, he turned to Kasamatsu. "Kasamatsu senapi! What did this puny said?" He demanded, pointing at Miyuki informally and it caused for her to quirk up a little.

"She said, what if I told them." Kasamatsu answered in Japanese, smiling widely.

Kise turned sharply at Miyuki. "Hey! Do you want us both to die in shame? You should be thankful that I didn't cut your head off your neck." He snapped.

Miyuki didn't like the attitude of Kise, whoever he is or whatever he is. If it weren't for Kasamatsu, she could've killed Kise on the spot, regardless of his importance in Japan and she doesn't care if she were to go to jail. At least, the reason was certainly unremarkable.

She was about to punch Kise square on his face when Kasamatsu suddenly bowed. "I'm sorry," He said, softly. "You must've don't know us." He straightened up his body and looked around, before barely audibly continuing, "I'm Kasamatsu Rukio, but widely known as Kasamatsu of Team Strky. My friend here is Kise Ryota, but widely known as Kise. We're bastketball players. Kise here also works as a model. Commonly, people know us. But we're already playing just partly due to our jobs."

Kasamatsu nudged Kise on the elbow; Miyuki waited patiently for the latter to talk. If he was just so kind and nice, she could've had a crush on him. He has all of what her type of guy is, and plus, Satsuki once told her flower boy types are the best for her. Kise was one, she was sure of it.

Kise, utterly shamed and swimming in guilt, sighed and finally said, "I'm sorry. I'm just crabby and ashamed that a girl, of all people would save us."

Miyuki would admit, she was moved by Kise and he made her heart beat twice as before. She thought the world will now end if jerks like him would live in a beautiful place like this, but then, he still has this soft spot inside his heart. At least, he decided to show it. And she fell for it… a little maybe.

Kise smiled, making her heart beat twice as before again and said, "Ah, you must've been trapped inside your house for a long time to not know us because everyone knows us, everywhere we go." He sighed, shaking his head while looking down and suddenly, he perked up.

"I got mad at you and then, apologized but still, I haven't known your name." Kise said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Miyuki Hirano." Miyuki answered, smiling equally as Kise's. For her, it felt like his smile was contagious, even more contagious than Kasamatsu's charming eye smiles. The last time she felt like this was when every time her father smiles.

"Miyuki?" Kise asked, turning to Kasamatsu. "Was there something about that name when we were ten?"

Kasamatsu shrugged, and answered, "Maybe when we were searching for Jiro's name on the net."

"Maybe." Kise nodded, and turned back to Miyuki. "Anyway, we should get going."

They both bowed at her; she returned it, quickly and clumsily.

They moved passed her, and when she was about to venture off, Kise suddenly called her name. She turned towards them, twisting her body slightly. "Miyuki, it would be nice that this incident will be kept from anyone else."

Miyuki laughed and ordered, "You have to say please."

Kise laughed, and sent her a flying kiss. "Please," He shouted and continued to walk away.

She grabbed his kiss from the air in a limited movement, and placed her palm against her lips. Then, after a short while she took her palm off her lips and looked at it, giddily. "Am I too flighty to fall in love that fast?"

Somehow her hand didn't respond, and she ventured off.


End file.
